APA Traces History of Racism in Psychiatry and the Nation in Second Member Town Hall

Just a few days before the 57th anniversary of the civil rights March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream Speech,” APA hosted the second in a series of town hall meetings to address structural racism in psychiatry. A distinguished panel of Black psychiatrists spoke to approximately 425 APA members about how the Black Lives Matter movement is an outgrowth of the civil rights initiativ es of the 1960s, what anti-racism is, and the impact of racial injustices within the organization, the profession, and the country.APA President Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H., described how the actions and ideals put forth in the March on Washington are not only relevant, but necessary today.“The tradition of advocacy and organizing continues because racial injustices are very much alive in the United States,” Geller said. “Beyond the appalling scenes of police brutality and the deaths of innocent Black people, the systemic impact of racism hits home in the house of medicine and p sychiatry as health inequities and racism impact Black people, Latinos, indigenous people, Asian-Americans, and others.”Geller called upon the APA Board of Trustees to address racism within APA and psychiatry. He noted that Board members are predominantly white and that they must take initiative and be proactive in confronting and dismantling structural racism.“We cannot turn to the Black members of the Board to guide us. That would take them out of the role of being Board m...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Aletha Maybank Altha Stewart APA Black Lives Matter Jeffrey Geller Kevin Simon Presidential Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry segregation Source Type: research